Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati Mosaic

Pier Giorgio Michelangelo Frassati was an Italian student who lived at the beginning of the 20th century. Though he died at the age of 24, Frassati spent his short life dedicated to serving Christ through ministering to the poor, being a Catholic political activist, and his deep and caring friendships to those he loved.

Pier Giorgio’s funeral was a triumph. The streets of the city were lined with a multitude of mourners who were unknown to his family -- the poor and the needy whom he had served so unselfishly for seven years. Many of these people, in turn, were surprised to learn that the saintly young man they knew had actually been the heir of the influential Frassati family.

Pope John Paul II, after visiting his original tomb in the family plot in Pollone, said in 1989: “I wanted to pay homage to a young man who was able to witness to Christ with singular effectiveness in this century of ours. When I was a young man, I, too, felt the beneficial influence of his example and, as a student, I was impressed by the force of his testimony."

On May 20, 1990, in St. Peter’s Square which was filled with thousands of people, the Pope beatified Pier Giorgio Frassati, calling him the “Man of the Eight Beatitudes.”

Read more about Blessed Pier Giorgio here.

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